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A long time friend of the family and couple both just died

 

Customer Question

A long time friend of the family and couple both just died in May 2012, their only next of kin and daughter, is on ssi and mentally ill, her 25 yr old daughter forged a will on Lisa's mother who died last in may, cutting Lisa (the mother of the 25 yr) out of everything, witnesses are forged too and one of the witnesses forgeries is a notary public (only as witness) not as a notary for the will. But I have the notaries signature on 5 notarized docs, and her sig on the will as witness is forged. But the notary tells me it is her, but it is not, absolutely not, I am getting handwriting experts and need help, the other forgery is the 25 yr olds friend. The will is bogus and an easy forgery to get all 4 of these ladies on. The mother of XXXXX XXXXX died 8 days after Lisa's father, she was in the hospital for 5 days with mulitple diseases and was also not of sound mind on 5/12 and died at 5:55 am the morning after 5/13 the will was supposedly done aka forged, me and my mom was told by the two that forged the will, on 5/14 that they had one sig on the will and needed 2 more witnesses. The notary told me that signature is hers, (but is 100% not) I told her, really you are going to lose everything, she said bring on your lawyers. So I am, what do I do? They said they filed the will and got probate started, but they all have been lying so badly. Also, I have a Durable unlimited POA on Lisa, she still lives in the home that she did with her mom and dad, but has the mind of a 5 yr old at most. How do I exercise a voice for her in or with the courts and law? We put a restraining order against the 25 yr old, because she is know to beat her mom up and attacked her badly in May twice.

Thanks Kris Holmes

 

Optional Information:
Country relating to Question: United States
State (if USA): California

Already Tried:
A elderly couple and long time friend of the family died in May 2012, leaving behind their mentally ill daughter on ssi alone, I am now payee for her, her care taker, and poa (durable unlimited POA for XXXX XXXX. Lisa has two daughters, one 25 and one 15. All 3 live on property of the deceased. The 25 yr old and her aunt, forged a will on the grandmother, and forged witnesses signature.

Submitted: 289 days and 17 hours ago.
Category: Legal
Value: $59
Status: CLOSED
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Expert:  LawTalk replied 289 days and 17 hours ago.

Good morning Kris,

I'm very sorry to hear of the situation.

As you possess a durable Power of Attorney for Lisa, and you are presumably not a licensed attorney in California, literally, the only think that you can do to help Lisa is to retain a local Estate Law attorney to file a challenge to the forged will in the court.

The court will allow each party to have the alleged-will examined by experts, and even though the on notary may be lying through her teeth, first---her Testimony can be challenged by Lisa's handwriting expert, and the fact that one or more of the other signatures and attestations are proven forgeries, that will have the effect of destroying the validity of the will anyway.

It is important that you retain this Estate attorney as soon as possible before the court appoints an executor and much of the property and assets of the estate are either liquidated or otherwise disposed of.

You may reply back to me using the Reply to Expert link if you have additional questions; and if you do, I ask that you please keep in mind that I do not know what you may already know or with what you need help, unless you tell me.

Kindly take a moment to rate my service to you based on the understanding of the law I provided. Please understand that I have no control over the how the law impacts your particular situation, and I trust you agree that it would be unfair for me to be punished by a (negative rating) ----the first 2 stars/faces----for having been honest with you about the law.

I wish you the best in 2012,

Doug

Customer replied 289 days and 17 hours ago.

Thank you, Doug...


Are there any papers I can file for Lisa due to her being mentally impaired so badly? How do I become a voice for her, with attorneys and in court, I have two docs so far, the POA (durable unlimited) and payee on her ssi, is there a way with docs of any kind that I am able to talk on and act on her behalf? Custodian or something else? She needs help so badly, I have 50 hrs into this so far, and now I sure do understand exactly what you suggested out side of how I can better act fully on her behalf with law and attorneys and experts? When can I get a handwriting expert, can I hire one?


Thanks so much Doug and I will be happy to rate your services.

Accepted Answer

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Expert:  LawTalk replied 289 days and 17 hours ago.

Good afternoon,

You may certainly file complaints with the local police and the Department of Social Services alleging elder abuse, Forgery and Fraud. However, in terms of filing any papers with the court---no, you can not.

In CA, only the individual themselves, may represent their interests in court without an attorney. An individual may not appoint a non-attorney to represent them, speak for them in court, or file any court document for them.

That is why I tried to make it very clear that you needed to retain an attorney to represent Lisa's interests. You may work directly with her attorney--that is what the power of attorney allows you to do. But, only an attorney may represent her in court---as she is incapable of representing herself.

You may seek to retain a handwriting analyst any time that you want. However, I urge to consider allowing the attorney to work with you in that regard. Many Estate attorneys already have such experts that they work with, and who they know can be qualified to testify in court. Not every analyst will qualify to testify.

You may reply back to me again, using the Reply to Expert link, if you have additional questions.

Would you please rate me highly now, based on my assistance to you in understanding the law.

I wish you the best in 2012,

Doug

Expert TypeAttorney
Category: Legal
Pos. Feedback: 98.3 %
Accepts: 7314
Answered: 7/4/2012

Experience: I am a practicing attorney with more than 27 years of experience in the legal field.

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